> It is absolutely crazy to think that US law should apply worldwide

Don't steal a Canadian company's technology [1], market products in America [2], issue dollar-denominated debt [3] and then violate sanctions in dollar-denominated transactions, and the U.S. and Canada will probably leave you alone.

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/former-nortel-exec-warns-ag...

[2] https://www.huawei.com/us/

[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanbaptiste/2018/04/26/huawei-...

If you want to do business with the US, there are certain conditions they'd like to enforce (e.g. don't resell their stuff to a list of countries). That's simple.

The other reality is that certain countries have cooperation agreements where they feel their laws are compatible enough that they agree to extradite individuals that break those laws. Seems pretty standard business to me.

If you know you're violating a high profile US law, dont travel to countries that are buddies with the US. Maybe she didn't know about the arrest request?

Pretty sure she would not travel to Canada knowing that an arrest warrant is outstanding. Why is it kept secret? Is it that important to nab her? Could be a huge headache for Canada.

While the US won’t prosecute you for stealing in, say, Argentina, there are laws on the books that prohibit all citizens from doing business with certain nations, period.

They’re calling them US sanctions but the UN has also imposed sanctions on Iran. That may explain why Canada arested him. One signatory picking up a person on behalf of a more motivated one.

If an USA or EU pays a bribe in Argentina, they may be prosecuted in their origin country. Also, the legislation about bribes abroad is very different in USA than in the EU, so when there is an important bidding process where there are companies from both sites, there are always problems and accusations afterwards. See for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens#2005_and_continuing:_w...

Maybe the most shocking example of bad UN sanctions pushed by the US: Madeleine Albright says 500,000 dead Iraqi Children was "worth it" wins Medal of Freedom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omnskeu-puE

Canada wants trade with the US more than trade with Iran and thus bows to the US.

As do EU nations.

Examples:

https://www.rt.com/business/443315-swift-iran-us-sanctions/

Quote:

The Belgium-based financial messaging service added: “This step, while regrettable, has been taken in the interest of the stability and integrity of the wider global financial system.”

SWIFT’s decision further undermines EU efforts to maintain trade with Iran and save an international deal with Tehran to curtail its nuclear program, after President Donald Trump pulled the US out in May. Being cut off from SWIFT makes it difficult for Iran to get paid for exports and to pay for imports.

https://www.rt.com/business/444051-eu-fears-us-sanctions-ira...

Quote:

Earlier this week, European Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova pledged to find an effective solution, saying that technical work on creating the mechanism to allow EU trade with Iran continued.

“We Europeans cannot accept that a foreign power, not even our closest friend and ally, takes decisions over our legitimate trade with another country,” she told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, stressing that the bloc would not be cowed by probable US penalties.

But other countries might have similar rules too. For example, Russia has sanctions against Ukraine, and Western companies generally ignore them. Also, Russia has Internet control laws and companies like Google are disrespectfully not complying with them.

Also, under Russian laws companies like Google or Facebook must keep Russian users' data in Russia; they are not complying.

> It is absolutely crazy to think that US law should apply worldwide.

Sure, but, most crime denominated in dollars goes through New York too. The section called "Stationary bandits" in the following expands this theory a bit:

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-11-27/don-t-...